The Centre for Public Policy for Regions (CPPR) is a major research initiative being jointly pursued by the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. It looks at the role of public policy in promoting economic and social development in Scotland and beyond.
The purpose of the CPPR is to produce 'Quality research for better public policies' and to develop a dialogue with government, communities and the private sector. To this end it publishes research papers and hold seminars and policy briefings on the key economic and social challenges facing Scotland and other regions.
The following departments of the University of Glasgow are involved:
- Urban Studies
- Economics
- Geography
- Business & Management.
The following departments of Strathclyde University are involved:
- Economics (including the Fraser of Allander Institute)
- Government.
The Centre seeks to understand broad patterns of spatial economic change, ranging from shifting regional roles and structures to new patterns of neighbourhoods, and probe their interactions with developing patterns of governance and government. The 'regional' level is often the starting point for this analysis, but the aim is to understand the multi-level interactions of policy, looking 'up' from the region to the nation and the EU, and looking 'down' to municipal and community levels.
The approach of CPPR is:
- multi-disciplinary (with economics, geography and political science lying at the core of the Centre's thinking)
- internationally orientated (using Scottish and UK regional experience as a component of a network of international comparative research)
- accessible to public policy-makers.
There is a strong comparative dimension to the research and an important emphasis on communication and engagement with the wider policy community through research dissemination and regular seminars.
Prof. Richard Harris
Director, CPPR